A Thirsty Person and the Well

A great aspirant named Kebalananda used to go to a spiritual Master named Bhaskarananda to study metaphysical subjects, but actually his real Guru was Shyama Charan Lahiri. One day Bhaskarananda asked Kebalananda to speak to Shyama Charan Lahiri on his behalf. He wanted to learn a few spiritual secrets from the Master.

But when Kebalananda mentioned the matter to his Guru, Lahiri said, “Why should I do this? Always if somebody is thirsty, that person goes to the well. Does the well go to the thirsty person?”

When Kebalananda took this message to Bhaskarananda, Bhaskarananda felt embarrassed and ashamed and he went to Shyama Charan Lahiri personally to learn the spiritual secrets.

Commentary:

It is quite natural for the thirsty person to go to the well to quench his thirst, for usually there is and can be no other way. But again, we have to know who the thirsty person is. If the thirsty person is a helpless little child who lacks the outer capacity or strength to come to the Source, then the Source, out of its infinite Compassion, has to go to the child who is parched with thirst.

Often the role of the seeker is that of a little child and the role of the Master is that of the affectionate mother. The childlike seeker cries in one room of the building and the mother comes running to fulfil the child’s needs. But if the seeker is mature in every human way, then he should come to the Master, the Source, wherever he is, for the seeker will get tremendous delight if he drinks Nectar-Bliss at the Source, and also he will have the opportunity to appreciate his own personal efforts to come to the Source.